"This inaugural volume of the Text and Cannon of the New Testament series includes essays by six authors. All of the chapters focus on the issues in textual criticism-in particular, how badly the scribes, who copied their exemplars by hand, corrupted the text. All but one of the chapters deals specifically with NT textual criticism; one addresses textual issues related to an early apocryphal text, the Gospel of Thomas." From the Preface, page 9.

The titles of the chapters and authors are as follows:
Chapter 1--Lost in Transmission: How Badly Did the Scribes Corrupt the New Testament Text? by Daniel B. Wallace
Chapter 2--The Least Orthodox Reading Is To Be Preferred: A New Canon for New Testament Textual Criticism? by Philip M. Miller
Chapter 3--The Legacy Of A Letter: Sabellianism or Scribal Blunder in John 1.1c? by Matthew P. Morgan
Chapter 4--Patristic Theology And Recension In Matthew 24:36: An Evaluation of Ehrman's Text-Critical Methodology by Adam G. Messer
Chapte…

Good Christmas Sunday to you!
Because our children are now grown men, my husband and I sleep-in Christmas morning. I remember many times though when we would be up late in to the night Christmas Eve putting together bicycles, or wagons, or other toys for our boys. Children grow up so fast, treasure these years with your little ones!
My sister and I chatted by phone recently and discussed the special memories we have of loved ones that are now in heaven. As we grow older, hopefully, we understand the brevity of life, and the specialness of shared times with our loved ones. I miss my mother so much especially during the holidays. Mother's birthday was on the 14th, she would have been 85.
My mother had Alzheimer's for at least 18 years. I was 26 years old when she first started showing signs of this hideous disease. At 26 I was just a young woman. I am blessed, immeasurably blessed, to have had a loving, gracious, dedicated, faithful mother. Mother loved the Lord, and I know sh…

"While they were there, the time came for Mary to have her baby. She gave birth to her firstborn child, a son, wrapped him snugly, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the guestroom." Luke2:6-7 Common English Bible

Isabella Alcantara is 7 months pregnant and lives in Encenada, Mexico with her husband Francisco. They make the desperate decision to leave after her parents and siblings are murdered by a drug related gang. Her abuelo (grandfather) hires with his own savings a "coyote" to take Isabella and Francisco across the border to America.
Miriam is a young widow and lives on 30 acres near the Mexican border with her young son Davey. Miriam's mother Carolyn is staying with her to help. Miriam is angry and bitter, her grief has not only swallowed her life but has affected her family. Davey is a perceptive boy. He watches closely his mother and grandmother, their emotions puzzle him, and he worries about them.
These people will be d…

"Your statues are my heritage forever; they are the joy of my heart." Psalm 119:111

Do you have a daily devotional time? A quiet time with the Lord? Do you set aside time every day to read God's Word?
During this last bit of 2011 I'll be sharing with my reader's a few of the devotionals that I've read this year.
The Joy of My Heart by Anne Graham Lotz
Take My Heart, Oh God written by an accumulation of various well-known women author's
Daily Light for Everyday with Anne Graham Lotz, but originally written by Samuel Bagster in 1794
Our Daily Bread a devotional magazine by Radio Bible Class Ministries

Published 1998 by The Summit Church
My copy is 8th printing
32 pages
Forgiveness/Healing

The author Bill Elliff shares a painful life story from his own life, in order to help others struggling through hurts.
No one is immune to life's hurts. "The greater question is not, Have you been hurt? but....."
Sometimes these hurts stay harbored in our heart. Maybe it was several small hurts, or maybe it was a large overwhelming hurt. The hurt, can become bitterness.
"Bitterness is subtle. I've rarely met a bitter man who realized his condition...When hurts are not dealt with God's way, bitterness roots itself in our soul. Like the sapling that refused to die, bitterness will continually spring up."
Bitterness shows in our countenance, our responses, even in our faces.
Forgiveness Healing The Harbored Hurts of Your Heart Bill Elliff with t…

I love history. I can't remember a time when I did not love to hear stories from my own family as well as stories from others about life in the past. I was always amazed when my maternal grandmother "mamaw" would tell me about the uncomfortable clothing she had to wear as a young girl. She wore petticoats, scratchy underwear, black stockings, stiff leather shoes. I'm told my maternal grandfather "papaw" loved to pick cotton as a young man. He would head to west Texas and could pick cotton all day. I even have a photograph of him leaning up against a wagon loaded with cotton. Papaw was a hard working man, most of his working life he held at least 2 to 3 jobs. My maternal grandmother never learned to drive a car, or ride a bicycle. She never stepped foot in a grocery store until she'd been married several years. She was though an excellent homemaker, mother, gardener, there was not a lazy bone in her body. Another story I've often heard is mamaw woul…

Sometimes I think that even though we have bills to pay, drive cars, and wear grown-up clothes---we still seek affirmation from others, just like we did when we were little children. I know I'm guilty of this. To one degree or another we want to be accepted by others. At what point is enough enough?
In Jesus+Nothing=Everything Tullian Tchividjian teaches us that we already have acceptance and approval in Jesus Christ.
If we continue to pursue affirmation from others, we will never be truly satisfied, we will constantly strive for the ultimate in positive affirmation, always reaching for it, yet never being satisfied.
It's time to make a change. Today. Right now.

Over the past 5 weeks in BSF we have been camped out in Hebrews. Between the indepth study of Hebrews, and the previous book I read Jesus+Nothing=Everything by Tullian Tchividjian, and daily Bible reading and devotional reading---this has been a time of discovery, conviction, and deep growth.
There has been a bold theme running through all of these that is no doubt an active work of the Holy Spirit: legalism and perfectionism. It has been directed at me, and it's time for me to listen up!
There will never be a time in a Christian's life (at least on this planet called earth) that we will have it all together and there will be nothing left for us to learn. In ignorance and foolishness I thought I had to persevere and toil, to work on character and spiritual growth. By doing this I'd made myself an idol. Just to state that last sentence makes me want to crawl under my desk and weep. I'm physically sick in that I'd thought this way. This response is called convicti…

"And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved." Acts 4:12 ESV

The Acts, An Exposition is more of a short summary of Acts. I wanted to state that in this review in case someone is looking for a deeper analysis of Acts. This did not deter me from reading this book, and it could be considered a starting point for further study.
What I noticed first about this book is the enthusiasm of the author in writing about the apostles and the early church.
In the introduction he writes, "The Acts is not so much concerned with the development of Christian life or the application of Christian truth as with the work of preaching the gospel."
Acts 1:8 "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth." ESV
"The witnessing was to be done by the power of the Holy Spirit. In no…

A Well-Watered Garden

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